What a journey we have been on since Mercury turned Retrograde!
I’ll back up a little, to the summer fires of British Columbia’s interior. The sky, even on Vancouver Island where I live, was smothered with thick smoke reaching into Washington and even Oregon. As I write this, fires burn in California…the West Coast, following the San Andreas Fault, has been illuminated and devastated by the Great Mother’s indistinguishable, fiery energy.
I may have mentioned before, The Divine Feminine expresses herself along the massive fault line, just as the Divine Masculine holds court along the Eastern seashore of the North American continent. The Atlantic…a container for Martian energy/industrial/mind focused, the Pacific; Lemurian/creative, expressive, emotion based. And so…feminine holy-fire.
The Sacred Dragon, Her familiar, also uses earthquakes to reconnect us with what is real, re-setting the human psyche, and if we listen closely to our intuition, we will remember that we are not separate from the Great Mystery, but indeed, One with the living, breathing planet we call home. Gaia.
In the last few weeks while in Mercury Retrograde, advancing steadfastly toward Winter Solstice, we have been on an intense inner journey. It has been increasingly difficult to stay balanced and grounded, as many of you have shared with me – this inner journey has been so much more than our usual trip to the Underworld between October and December. Indeed, we are under incredible pressure; to vision quest, to examine old paradigms that no longer serve us, to be so authentic in our walk that it will either make us or break us.
I prefer transmutation and integration to being broken any day, and that day is coming, I promise, but in the meantime, we must marinade a little longer, bear the intensity of our feelings, sink further than we feel comfortable doing, then, when it feels that we’ll surely be crushed, we release, soften, open the heart and allow transformation.
How is this done gracefully? In the moment that your heart screams to shut down, in that exact moment when you want to say ‘Fuck It!’, when tears are no longer healing but become bitter, that’s when you open to that last bit of pain, and that last bit that you know you won’t be able to stand, that bit is what opens the heart to knowing that its journey to the Shadow Side is over.
Joy happens when we embrace, not avoid shadows.
Sagittarius is a tricky energy for a New Moon to be under, and this month, Jupiter, which rules Sagittarius, is in Scorpio. So we can drop any ideas of running from this shadow work in front of us, as Scorpio will not have it; it simply loves to wade right into the murkiest of waters, even to drown in it, because it craves the resurrection that passionately!
Whatever you have been suffering with, whatever challenges have thrown your world into a tail-spin, whatever your most vulnerable realizations – is truly a gift, but you are asked to wring the wisdom from it until the Longest Night, Solstice on the 21st. of December. On the other side, lies the opportunity to rise as She rises, birthing the Sun, birthing possibility.
So sit in this fire, empty into the flames, let Her cauldron melt your fear. There is light on the horizon.
You know that it’s darkest right before dawn. It’s when all that rumbles around in the dark begins to settle down to sleep again, and when illusions become clarity.
We witches, especially us Scorpio witches, like this kind of seasonal torture, we even look forward to the dark months. But I’ve been hearing from my fellow magic-workers that much has been expected of them to find clarity this year. Some things that have worked for them and that may also help you, is to eat clean, hydrate well, exercise to release some of the pressure, meditate, spend time with good friends, spend time in nature, journal, make love, crystal healing work, limit television, stay away from crowds. Self care is always apropos.
When the new Moon rises, plant your dream seeds, reach into your soul and envision your heart’s call. Plant it in the rich soil of possibility. Everything you’re feeling now is preparing you for the realization of those dreams. It’s always that way, first we do our inner work, then we harvest what was once only imagined.
I’ll leave you with this beautiful song by Deva Premal and Miten to meditate with.
New Moon Blessings, Heart Hugs and Soul Kisses! xo Monika
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